Truth and Lies
by scottsman
Summary: there's a new boy and a new horse at Pine Hollow. His past follows him and a misunderstanding threatens his new friendship with the Saddle Club and his new found happiness at Pine Hollow.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A four door White Ford pickup bounced along the round that between Willow creek and Pine Hollow, pulling a horse trailer behind it. Inside the Cab sat two parents and a Son. The boy sat in the back looking out the window. He was about 15 with brown hair and blue eyes. He was deck out in Grey Cargo pants a bright blue shirt and next to him on the seat was a silver Jacket. On his feet were a pair of sneakers and next his feet on the floor board was a rather nice pair of riding boots. He sat there absent mindedly wrapping the rag he had been using to polish the boots around his finger and then unwrapping it.

Finally his mother spoke.

"Connor," she said, "promise me that you won't get into any trouble at Pine Hollow!"

"Yeah," said his Father, "Like getting into fights. The way you did at Cross County."

"Hey," said the boy meeting his dad's eye's in the rear view mirror, "It was only one fight! And I told you I didn't start it!

"Whether you started or not," said his Mother, "you broke that boy's nose when you hit him!"

"I knocked him out too," said Connor in a wry tone of voice.

"See," said his mother, "And you're not acting a bit sorry for it."

"Would you have me be sorry that I stopped that bully Reggie Van Forsythe he was about to shove that kid face first into a pile of horse manure just for bumping into him! Would you rather I just ignored bullying and didn't do anything about it."

"Of course not," said his Father, "And I'm not saying that you did anything wrong, but you know you have to be extra careful about acting on your heroic impulses."

"Ah yes," shaking his head slowly, "It always comes back to my little secret doesn't it?"

"Ever since the day of the accident in your uncles lab your mother and have been worried about what would happen if anybody found out about it."

"I don't deliberately start fights, Dad." Said Connor.

"I know," said his father with a chuckle in his voice, "But you sure finish them."

########

Lisa, Carole and Stevie were walking to the aisle between the stalls. It was about mid morning and Lisa was carrying a handful of Carrots for the horses. Just as they passed by Stall number 10 a beautiful black stallion with silver mane poked his head over the door and snatched one of the carrots right out of Lisa's hands.

"Hey," said Lisa Laughing, as the horse crunched on the carrot, "you're a sneaky one."

"That wasn't very polite, Boy," said a voice from inside the stall, "no matter how much you like your treats." The boy walked around from the other side of the horse. In his hand was a curry comb.

"Sorry about that, Miss," he said politely to Lisa, "Paladin here can be a little cheeky sometimes and he can smell an apple, carrot or sugar cube a mile away."

"You must be new here," said Carole

"Yeah," said the boy, dropping the curry comb into the tray and picking up the hoof pick "I just got here late yesterday afternoon; I guess the three of you had already left for the day. My name's Connor Maddux and you've already met Paladin." Lisa spoke up before either of the others could.

"I'm Lisa Atwood," she said, "and this is Carole Hanson and Stevie Lake." The boy exchanged pleasant greetings with them and then turned to Paladin.

"Okay Paladin let me see your foot." He said. As the girls watched the horse promptly raised the opposite foot!" as the girls snickered, Connor rolled his eyes and looked down his nose at his horse,

"All right, wise guy," he said, "you know which foot I meant." Paladin nickered in satisfaction with his own trick and switched feet. The girls were laughing out loud at this point. After inviting Connor to go on a hack later they headed off to their own horses.

A little while later, as the girls were busy tacking up their horses Veronica and Kristy came walking by.

"Did you see that new boy Connor," Kristy was gushing, "He's so cute, and I just know we'll connect on a deep spiritual level."

"What about Red?" said Veronica

"Oh Red was just a schoolgirl Crush." Said Kristy, "What Connor and I have is the real thing."

"Kristy he doesn't even know who you are." Said Veronica, "You haven't even introduced yourself yet."

"I know," said Kristy, "But some connections are beyond words, you just feel them." At this point the Saddle Club who had been listening from behind their horses could no longer contain themselves they burst out laughing.

Kristy heard the laughter and just harrumphed.

"That's something the Saddle Club is too juvenile to understand." She sneered

"Oh, so Lisa, Carole, and Stevie are the Saddle Club that I've been hearing about." Said a Voice behind them.

The two girls turned to see Connor walking up leading a fully tacked up Paladin.

"See," Kristy sneered quietly at the Saddle Club when Connor turned to double check paladin's girth strap, "we do have deep spiritual connection he has already come to take a hack with me."

"No," said Connor almost immediately, "I've come to take a hack with the Saddle club." Kristy's mouth dropped open as Connor smile and turned to the Saddle Club.

"Shall we ladies?" he said motioning toward the door.

"We shall," they replied in unison as they began leading their horses outside. Soon the four horses were walking leisurely up the trail. At one point during their ride Connor entertained the girls by taking his feet out of the stirrups, swinging his legs around and reclining on Paladin's back with his hands behind his head. Paladin never batted an eye and kept right on walking. All too soon it was time to start back. As they started back down the girls suddenly became aware that Connor wasn't with them. They stopped and turned in the saddle to see Connor sitting astride Paladin at the top of the hill. He and his horse were looking out across the valley toward the Pine Hollow stables. Connor, had, not a sad, but a deeply thoughtful expression on his face.

The girls turned around and rode back up the short distance to where Connor was.

"Are you okay, Connor?" Stevie asked Connor turned and flashed a smile.

"Yeah," he said, "I've just realized what this feeling I think Paladin and I have had ever since I got here is."

"What?" said Lisa

"It's the feeling of having come home," he smiled, "There is just something about this place."

Meanwhile at Cross County…

Phil Marsten was in the middle of brushing down Teddy when he was approached by another rider. This rider was decked out in a very expensive riding get up. He had short curly blonde hair and green eyes.

"Hey Phil," said the boy in an almost arrogant tone of voice. Phil turned found himself face to face with the most disliked boy at Cross County Reginald Van Forsythe II.

"What do you want, Reggie?" said Phil less than cordial tone of voice that Reggie completely ignored.

"You take lessons every weekend at Pine Hollow, Don't you?" said Reggie

"What's your point?" said Phil feeling impatient.

"I'm going to meet you over there Saturday, There's a girl there that I want you to introduce me to." Phil felt apprehensive

"Who?" he asked, half afraid of the answer.

"That Cute brunette, Lisa Atwood!"

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED….**_

 _Well there it is the first chapter. If you like it please review it!_

 _What secret is Connor hiding?_

 _What will happen when Reggie shows up at Pine Hollow with his eye on Lisa?_

 _STAY TUNED and Review, Review, Review, thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Please read and review**_

Truth and Lies 2

Chapter 2

Phil stuck his pinky finger in his ear and wiggled it. Then he pulled it out and turned to face Reggie.

"Did I hear you right," he said, "You want me to introduce you to Lisa Atwood?!"

"Yes," sniffed Reggie, "I've decided to give her the honor of being my girlfriend."

"I don't believe it," said Phil fighting the urge to roll his eyes, "Why should I help you?"

"Too make sure that I conveniently forget to tell Landers about you breaking into his office desk last week, and taking that notebook." Reggie smirked

"That notebook belonged to Stevie," snapped Phil, "it had a copy of the dressage routine she was working on for the competition a week from Saturday. Landers had no business keeping it."

"Spare me the lecture," saint Phil snorted Reggie, "That's the deal I'm offering you. Take it or leave it!"

"All right," snarled Phil, "I'll introduce you but that's all!"

"Fine," said Reggie, "As long as we understand each other."

"There's one thing I don't understand," said Phil, "Why Lisa, she's nothing like the rich girls you usually chase around?"

"Hey," said Reggie, as he turned to leave, "I can slum a little." At this Phil had to fight down the urge to take a swing at Reggie. Even though he was Stevie's boyfriend Phil had a high opinion of all of the Saddle club girls and wouldn't stand for any of them to be insulted. The problem was that Reggie was also pretty tough he had a black belt in Tai Kwon Do. Phil would probably lose any fight he picked with Reggie.

Phil and the others and not been happy when word came down through the Cross County grapevine, after his fight with Reggie, that Connor and been kicked out, he was the only one that could handle Reggie.

All the Cross County riders knew that Simon Landers, the assistant director of the stables, was basically a lap dog to Reggie's father, so it didn't take a genius to figure out how Connor got railroaded so fast. Director Elliot Richards had sure picked a fine time to be away on his vacation.

Phil was brought out of his musings buy the sound of Reggie chewing out a stable hand for not bringing his horse's sweet feed fast enough.

"Reggie," he muttered under his breath, "If you get a date with Lisa the only person who'll be slumming is her."

Saturday dawned clear and bright. It was one those days that makes a person happy to be alive. Even the horses were upbeat. Connor arrived bright and early and set about doing his usual stable chores. He had just finished mucking out the stall and was getting new hay to put down on the floor, when he remembered that today was the day that Phil came over from Cross County for his Dressage lesson. Connor was looking forward to seeing Phil again. The two boys had become friends at Cross County.

About the time he finished with the Stall he looked at his watch. It was nearly time for the Phil to be there. Connor tacked up Paladin and led him outside. He had just emerged into the sunlight when he heard a voice that made him cringe.

He turned toward the dressage ring and saw Reggie standing next to Phil.

" _Just when I thought I was free of that snake!"_ thought Connor

Phil had just finished introducing Reggie to Lisa; When Connor grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

"What is going on here, Phil?" he snapped, "Why is Reggie here!?"

"I'm sorry, man," said Phil, "Reggie's kind of got me over a barrel."

"What do you mean?" said Connor

Phil took a deep breath and told Connor the whole story.

"Stevie left her notebook with her dressage notes for next Saturday's competition in it down at JB's I found it after she left and took it with me intending to return it today. It must have fallen out of my duffle bag at Cross county stables. Landers found and locked it in his desk. I had to break into his desk to get the notebook back and somehow Reggie found out about it. Now he's using this information to blackmail me into introducing to Lisa. He's says he's decided to slum a little and give Lisa the privilege of being his new girlfriend."

Connor turned and looked over his shoulder at Lisa who was giggling at one of Reggie's jokes. He could really tell that Reggie was laying on the charm. Make no mistake Reggie could be very charming with people who didn't know him well enough to know what he was really like.

Connor shook his head slowly and said.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

After the Dressage lesson was over, Lisa, Carole, and Stevie came over to Connor and invited him go up the trail with them.

"Thanks anyway," said Connor, "But Paladin and I will take a quiet wander out the gorge trail I need to sort out some thoughts."

"Connor," said Stevie, "I noticed ever since your talk with Phil you've been unusually quiet. You barely said two words the entire lesson. Is something wrong?"

"It's Complicated," said Connor, "But I will say this, Lisa, Beware of Reggie, he's not who you think he is."

With that Connor rode off leaving the girls to ponder what he meant. Connor and Paladin Meandered their way up the trails until Connor and his horse found themselves on an old trail next to dead man's gorge. A few feet over from where Connor and his mount stood was a steep four hundred foot drop off. At the bottom of the jagged gorge walls was a shallow creek filled with jagged boulders.

Just as Connor paused, there was the sound of loud thwack as something struck his horses flank, and running footsteps. Paladin reared violently with a loud whinny. Connor, caught off guard, went flying. He hit the ground and bounced over the edge of the ravine. He looked down and saw where he was headed. There was nothing between him and the ground hundreds of feet below.

"Well this is going to hurt." he thought wryly

Connor hit the ground so hard that rock fragments, water exploded into the air like somebody had set off a bomb. Connors bloody broken body lay face down at the bottom the gorge. A few seconds later electricity began to ripple all over the body and in the wounds which disappeared. Inside his body this energy was regenerating the bones and repairing the internal injuries. Heartbeat and breathing resumed and the energy itself lifted Connor of the ground and sat him on his feet as his eyes opened and the regeneration completed.

Connor stood there flexing his arms and legs for a minute to make sure that everything was working again. After he had satisfied himself that he was in one piece again, he bent down and rinsed his face, arms and hands off as best he could. As he stood up the silence was broken by the sound of galloping hoof beats. He turned to see paladin coming toward him. Somehow the horse had found a way down into the gorge. Paladin hurried up to him.

"I'm okay, pal," he said, "But I'd rather not have to do another four hundred foot belly flop any time soon." Paladin Knackered in agreement as Connor mounted up.

"Show me the way out of here, boy," he commanded and off they went. In less time than even Connor expected they were back up at the spot from where he had fallen. Stepping down out of the saddle Connor walked around paladin and found a place on Paladin's right flank about the size of man's thumbnail where the skin had been broken. There was a little blood but not much.

"This isn't a bullet wound, pal," he said, "Somebody shot you with a slingshot." Connor walked into the bushes a few feet in the direction the shot had come from. He remembered the running footsteps that he heard just as he went airborne. Just as he reached the other side of the clump of bushes his foot struck something on the ground. Looking down he found a fancy store bought metal slingshot with an arm brace and everything. Picking it up her figured that whoever had dropped it had shot paladin and bolted without waiting to see what happened. this his attention was drawn to some initials that were literally monogrammed on the black handle RVF. At the sight of these letters Connor's face darkened into a scowl as his temper flared and his anger mounted. One word escaped his clenched teeth.

"Reggie."

Suddenly as Connor was about let out a primal yell of fury, he heard feminine voices and reigned himself in.

"Connor said he wanted to be alone," said Lisa

"I know," said Carole, "but Mrs. Reg got worried when she heart that boom or whatever was come from the gorge, she knew that Connor went that way."

"Hey guys," said Stevie, "There's Paladin, but I don't see Connor."

"It was the Saddle club," said Connor ducking down, "I'm in a jam now. How am I going to explain a shirt covered in dried patches of my own blood!"

 **To Be Continued….**

 _ **Please Read and Review, I thrive on feedback.**_

 _ **Stay tuned for the next thrilling Chapter.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Truth and Lies 3

Chapter 3

Connor had to think fast. A few yards away he saw a pile of lose rocks on the side of the bank. Grabbing up a smooth stone from the ground, he loaded it in the slingshot, took aim at the rock pile and fired. The stone hit the rock pile, knocked it lose and sent the rocks skittering down the bank. The nose was enough to distract the girls who when to investigate thinking it might be Connor. Connor slipped up to his and in the saddle bags that he had with him he quickly pulled out another shirt and changed into it before the girls got back.

"Well that's one problem solved," he said to himself as he stashed the bloody shirt in his saddle bag along with the incriminating slingshot. The girls appeared just as Connor was swinging his leg over to top of Paladin's back.

"There you are," said Stevie, "Where were you?"

"Right over there," said Connor motioning in the general direction from which he had come.

"Hmm," said Lisa, "I wonder why we didn't see you."

Connor shrugged and shook his head.

"Mrs. Reg sent us to find you," said Carole, "She got worried when she heard that, boom, that came from the gorge a few minutes ago. Did you see what it was?"

Here Connor was presented with another problem he didn't like the Idea of lying to his new friends but he didn't feel like he could tell them the truth either. So he just said.

"Something probably just fell off the top of the gorge and down to the bottom. Gorges like that are regular echo chambers anyway. It probably just made the sound, of whatever it was, that hit the ground down there, seem louder than it actually was."

Connor was more than a little relieved when this answer seemed to satisfy the girls. They mounted up and the four of them rode back to Pine Hollow together.

All the way back Connor's thoughts race. Seeing Reggie playing up to Lisa just absolutely rubbed him the wrong way. He reasoned that it wasn't, because he was jealous, he hadn't known the girl long enough for that. It was because he knew Reggie all too well.

" _Reginald Van Forsythe is such a snob and a blue blood that he would normally consider a girl like Lisa, even as pretty as she is, to be beneath his station. He wouldn't pursue her like this without some sort of ulterior motive."_

Just then Connor was snapped out of his musings by the sound of one of the girls talking to him.

"Connor, are you okay," asked Carole

"Yeah," he said, "I'm alright, just a little preoccupied."

"I noticed," said Stevie, "Say, what did you mean, earlier, when you told Lisa that Reggie wasn't who he appeared to be?"

"Well," said Connor, "You might as well know that before I came here I was a member of the Cross County pony club. That's how I got to know Phil Marsden. The other thing you should know is that I got kicked out of Cross County for fighting with Reggie. The guy is such a snob and a blue blood that he makes Veronica look down to earth. So I have to ask myself, what is he doing here, chasing a girl that he would normally consider beneath his social status?"

"Oh is that so," snapped Lisa, getting angry, "you don't think that he could be interested in me, for me, am I that repulsive?!"

"No no," said Connor Quickly, "You're very pretty!"

"Just not good enough to interest anybody like Reggie Van Forsythe!" snorted Lisa without giving Connor another chance to smooth her ruffled feathers she spurred Prancer to a gallop and disappeared down the trail.

"Well Connor, my boy, you sure handled that well," Connor muttered sarcastically to himself.

"Don't, worry," said Carole, "We know you meant well and were just trying to be a good friend, and deep down so does Lisa, we'll go after and try to smooth things over."

With that she and Stevie hurried off to catch up with Lisa.

When Connor reached the Stables he cooled out Paladin. Then he took him inside and un-tacked him after another quick grooming he turned him out in the paddock. When he walked back into the stable, the first sight the greeted his eyes was Reggie kissing Lisa's hand. Connor's grip on his horse's lead rope, which was draped over his shoulder, tightened almost to a white- knuckled death- grip as he fought down the urge to run over there and shove his fist down Reggie's throat.

He passed on by the disturbing sight and headed for the tack room where he put his lead rope with the rest of his Tack. Then he went back and started to muck out Paladin's stall again hoping the hard work would help defuse his raging temper. It worked. By the time he had cleaned out the dirty hay, carted it off in a wheelbarrow, replaced it with clean, and made sure that his horse had plenty of feed, he had cooled down considerably.

He hoped that Stevie and Carole could pacify Lisa and smooth things over. He really hadn't meant to offend her and certainly not to hurt her feelings. He had been asked a straight question, tried to answer it honestly and it had apparently backfired on him.

Just then Carole and Stevie stopped at the stall door.

"Well," said Stevie, "Lisa's not mad at you anymore, but she says that whether or not she goes out with Reggie is still her decision. She wants you to trust her judgment."

"I never said that it wasn't, and I'm sure that she has good judgment," Connor sighed, "I hope to heaven that I'm wrong about Reggie this time I really do, but I can't forget that she's only known Reggie for a few hours, I've known him for two years. It's no reflection on Lisa's judgment or brains I'm just fairly certain that I know Reggie better than she does."

"I know," said Carole, "And we know Lisa, When she sets her mind on something it can be hard to change it. If you're right about Reggie and his ulterior motives, the truth may have to smack Lisa in the face before she sees it."

After the girls left Connor finished filling the water trough. Just as he was about to open the stall door, he saw Reggie going into the boy's bathroom. Connor turned, grabbed a certain object out of his saddle bag, which was hanging on the wall next to the door, and followed Reggie into the bathroom.

Reggie was actually a little startled when he straightened up from washing his hands and saw Connor leveling a cold stare at him in the mirror, but he quickly recovered and plastered a cocky sneer on his face.

"What do you what, Maddux?" He snorted

"Two things," replied Connor in a tone of voice that was low, quiet and threatening all at the same time, "First to let you know that I'm watching you, and second to tell you that Lisa Atwood is a friend of mine and if you hurt her in any way, shape, or form, you will answer to me."

Connor turned to go and then paused he reached in to his pocket and pulled out the slingshot. His eyes flashed white with the energy that had healed him in the gorge and the metal slingshot twisted in his hands like paper. Then he turned to Reggie.

"Oh and, Reggie, he said, "you dropped this." He tossed the twisted slingshot into the sink in front of Reggie and walked out. He paused in the half open doorway and spoke on last time.

"You've been warned."

TO BE CONTINUED…..

 _Is Connor right about Reggie, if so what could Reggie's ulterior motive be?_

 _Or is Reggie's interest in Lisa on the level?_

 _Will the girls ever find out Connor's big secret?_

 _ **Please Read and review**_. Comments, ideas, and Constructive Criticism are all welcome.


	4. Chapter 4

Truth and Lies 4

Chapter 4

It was evening in Willow Creek. The Saddle Club girls found themselves at a swank party at the Mayor's house. Lisa was there because her dad was a member of the city council and as such it was expected for him and his whole family to attend. Carol and Stevie were there out of loyalty to their friend. Lisa reminded Carole that she had gone with her when he dad had signed her up for that wilderness survival class and she reminded Stevie that she had gone with her to that disaster of a concert by that local band Dead-end Street. She had suffered with them and now it was time to return the favor.

Lisa was decked out in a red party dress and dressy boots, Stevie wore a blue dress and dressy open-toed flats. Carole was wearing a purple and black one shoulder party dress and heels. They were standing together over by the refreshment table when a group of boys who obviously considered themselves lady's men sauntered over. For the last half out those boys had been hitting on every skirt, their own age, in sight. The leader of the group who apparently thought of himself as the greatest thing since slice bread opened his mouth to say something but Stevie beat him to it. She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder.

"Keep moving, Creeps," she snapped

"Ah come on, girls," he purred, sidling up to them and trying to play it cool, "Don't be like that. Give me and my boys a chance, I promise you will grow on you."

"Then that would make you guys a fungus," snapped Carole she promptly drove her heel into the would-be ladies' man's instep. The boy gasped in pain and stumbled backwards a few steps.

"Why you little_," he raged but was cut off by another familiar voice.

"Johnny, that's enough!" Johnny froze. The girls looked up and were surprised to see Connor standing there his hands in his pockets. Apparently he had approached without being noticed. He was decked out in black dress pants with a black belt that had a silver buckle and a white shirt with a Nehru collar and black suit coat.

Connor made eye contact with Johnny and flicked his head toward the nearby doorway in a go- on- git sort of way. Johnny turned back to Carole.

"Girl, you're lucky he stepped in," he snapped

"Johnny," snapped Connor his eyes growing cold and threatening, and his hands slowing coming out of his pockets, "You're lucky I didn't let her kill you, now get out of here!" The fight now complete drained out of the show off and he and his friends walked away without another word.

"Thanks, for the back up," said Carole after the three trouble makers had left.

"No problem," said Connor, "What are friends for?"

""What brings you here?" said Lisa, "I wouldn't have though that these society parties were your thing."

"They're not," said Connor as he checked out the choices on the refreshment table, "My Mom, Sara Maddux is on the town Council, which means that I had to miss out on the new kung fu movie down at the Cineplex for this shindig."

"Oh yeah," said Stevie, "I wanted to see that too,"

"You would." Said Carole

"Why are you three here?" asked Connor deliberately bypassing the baby Keishs and popping one of the mini beef sausages into his mouth.

"I'm here for more or less the same reason you're here," said Lisa, "Except it's my dad not my mom who's on the town council." Before Connor could reply he notice his motioning him over.

"Excuse me ladies," he said, "My mom and dad want me, oh and by the way, if you get hungry, take my advice, stick to the sausages or the cheeses, the mayor's wife is such a sweet lady that nobody has the heart to tell her that her homemade baby Keishs are disgusting."

Connor slipped away and walked over to where his father and mother were standing.

"Connor," said his mother motioning to the gentlemen they had been talking to, "This is Deputy Mayor Carter Voss." Then she turned to the Deputy Mayor

"Mr. Voss, this is our son Connor." Carter Voss was a tall man in his late forties to early fifties with graying hair and blue eyes. He smiled the toothy smile of a seasoned politician. Connor shook hands with Voss and immediately felt like he should count his fingers.

"Glad to meet you, son," Voss said then he turned to Connor's father, "Jim we'll talk later about my proposal for the location of the new water treatment plant at the council meeting tomorrow night. I still think that the land on the west side of the reservoir is the best bet."

Connor's father nodded and Voss flashed another toothy grin. Then he spotted someone more important to talk to.

"Excuse me." He said and off he went to schmooze someone else. Connor slipped away and went to find his friends again. He passed by Voss and heard him talking with Councilman Rogers and wanting to discuss the new water treatment plant with him too.

When he came around the corner of the stately homes grand staircase and into view of the front door, he saw the Van Forsythes arriving. They were all wearing designer clothes and making a big production out of greeting the Mayor and his Wife.

"Vanity, thy name is Van Forsythe," Connor muttered to himself. He snagged another mini sausage off the refreshment table, popped it in his mouth and continued on his way. He found Carole and Stevie out on the rear balcony. Lisa had excused herself to go to the ladies room.

"Hi," said Carole, "I see you got away from your folks."

"Yes," said Connor, "My folks wanted to introduce me to the right honorable deputy mayor Carter Voss."

"Ew," said Stevie, "That guy makes my skin crawl."

"I know what you mean," said Connor, "I can't help feeling that having that guy for a deputy mayor is a bit like having a weasel guarding the hen house."

The two girls nodded in agreement. Just then they all heard the sound of a sliding door opening directly below them and then voices. One of them Connor recognized as Voss's.

"Vernon Van Forsythe, are you crazy," Voss was Saying, "We can't talk about that here!"

"Voss, we have a deal," snapped Van Forsythe, "you'd better come through."

This was followed by the sound of footsteps walking away and the sliding glass door being opened and closed angrily.

"What was that all about?" said Stevie

"I don't know," said Connor, "but it does remind me of one thing. People around here have believed for ages that Vernon Van Forsythe has, more than once, been guilty of questionable business practices. Nobody could prove it though."

"Well it sounds to me like he's up to something again," said Carole as they turned and walked back inside.

Connor nodded. They turned to walk back inside inside, when suddenly Connor stopped short.

"I think I might know what Van Forsythe is up to," he said, "Or at least part of it anyway."

"What do you mean?" said Carole

"Voss has been talking to everyone who'll listen tonight about building that new Water treatment plant on that land on the west side of the reservoir."

"What does that have to do with Voss and Van Forsythe's little conversation down there?" asked Stevie

"I don't know exactly," said Connor, "I just have a feeling that they're connected somehow."

"You know," said Carole, "I really didn't know what to think of Reggie at first, but after what you've told me and what I've seen of his father, I'm don't think I trust him either."

"That makes three of us," said Stevie suddenly Carole looked around.

"Where's Lisa," she said, "I doesn't take this long to go to the bathroom?!" the three friends walked back into the main room and found the answer to their question. Lisa was in the main room dancing with Reggie."

"I should have known," said Connor, "Man he's really giving her the rush job, slow dancing and everything." Connor and the girls worked their way to the edge of the dance floor. Just as Lisa did a twirl, the heel on her boot broke she lost her balance and landed against Connor hard enough to knock him back a step or two.

"Lisa, are you okay," asked Carole rushing around Stevie to check on her friend.

"Yeah," replied Lisa, "But I think I twisted my ankle a little when my heel broke." Connor picked Lisa up and carried her bridal style over to a nearby armchair. He was tempted to smirk when he saw the scowl on Reggie's face.

Connor put Lisa down gently in the chair and bent down to check on her injured ankle.

"Well," he said, as Lisa's parents hurried over, "there's no discoloration, and only a little swelling, so I don't think it's that bad."

"We'll take her home and put some ice on it!" said her Dad.

"Good idea," said Connor, "That's just what she needs."

A few Minutes later, Connor stood on the front patio watching Lisa and her friends piled into the Atwood's SUV.

As the SUV pulled out of the drive way Connor's thoughts returned to the strange confrontation between Voss and Van Forsythe not to mention Voss talking with everybody and his brother about that land on the west side of the Reservoir.

"I'm think I'm going to check out that property tomorrow." He said to himself.

The next day, found Connor at Pine Hollow bright and early tacking up his horse. Fortune had smiled on him. He had been wondering how he could get over to the reservoir to do the snooping that he wanted to, when he found out Clearwater Creek trail was basically a wide loop that started out following the creek and then ended circling around, on public land, down by the reservoir.

He led paladin out into the yard, Mounted up and headed out for the Clearwater Creek trail. He hadn't gone far on the trail when the sound of hoof beats behind him alerted him to the fact that someone or several some ones were following him. before his uninvited guests came within sight of him he reigned in Paladin behind a boulder in the side of the trail. He waited with baited breath as the hoof beats drew closer. Then he heard a familiar voice that called him sigh in relief. It was Carole.

"Red said that, the Last time he saw Connor, he and Paladin were toward this trail," Carole was saying.

"I'm not surprised," said Stevie, "you know how interested he was in the Reservoir last night."

"Why's that?" said Lisa

"Remember what we told you we overheard at the party last night between Voss and Reggie's father?" Carole Asked.

"Yeah, Why," replied Lisa

"Well Connor also noticed that all that Voss could talk about the entire night was the New Water treatment plant they want to build and where they were going to build it," said Stevie, "Connor thinks that the deal Van Forsythe mention having with Voss has something to do with the land around the reservoir."

"He's probably on his way out there to play detective." Carole said as they passed the rock.

"You're right," said a voice behind them. The girls turned sharply to see Connor and Paladin coming down from their hiding place behind the rock to join them."

"Somehow Vernon Van Forsythe, Deputy Mayor Voss and the west side of the Reservoir are all connected," said Connor, as they kept riding, "I just don't know how, yet."

After a few more minutes of riding they arrived at the west side of the reservoir. The first thing they could see from where they stopped on the trail, was a half dozen 'No trespassing' signs just right there on that side of the property. Down the path on the other side of the boundary line they could also see a couple of shacks next to each other.

Connor looked at the signs and then over at the girls.

"Do you think that someone is trying to tell us something." He said in a wry tone of voice. The girls nodded.

"Well," said Stevie, "Maybe we can see something without crossing the property lines." She dismounted and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Connor raised his eyebrows.

"I thought I was the one who came out here to play detective."

Stevie just grinned. The Tall blonde Tomboy approached the property line and paused on the Public land side of it. Lifting the binoculars to her eyes she began searching for anything that might tell them what was going on. While she was doing this she unconsciously took a step forward. Suddenly something seemed to snag her leg and she fell over. Connor heard a rumbling noise up on the steep high bank next to the trail. He looked up and saw a rock slide headed right for Stevie!

Jumping out of his saddle, he sprinted over to Stevie, and grabbing her, he practically threw her out of the path of the rocks. But he wasn't so lucky. Before he could do anything to get himself clear the rockslide slammed into to him. The girls watched in horror as their friend Connor was knock end over end and half buried under a ton of cascading limestone rocks!

Carole and Lisa Jumped off their horses As Stevie jumped to her feet. Carole and Steve and in half a second were the first ones to reach Connor, as Lisa came half running half limping behind.

The girls began to pull the rocks off of Connor. Lisa lower lip was shaking slightly and she was fighting the urge to cry.

"Is he dead?" she said

"I don't know," said Carole gravely, "It looks like he might be."

Suddenly the girls jumped back and stared open mouthed as what appeared to be white electricity began to ripple all over Connor's unconscious form. The wounds began to heal. The arcing energy blew rocks off of him and lifted him off the ground sitting him gently on his feet as his eyes opened. The energy once again disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Connor took a deep breath and began to brush himself off. When he looked up he saw the stunned girls staring at him in disbelief.

He chuckled nervously and gave a guilty smile.

"I, uh, I guess I've got some explaining to do."

TO BE CONTINUED…..

 _How to Reggie's Father the Deputy Mayor, and the land at the reservoir all Connect?_

 _Will the girls keep Connor's secret?_

 _And how does Reggie fit in to all of this?_

Come back later to find out…. **Please Read and Review**.


	5. Chapter 5

Truth and Lies 5

Chapter 5

The girls looked at Connor expectantly.

"Well go on explain," said Stevie as she and the girls sank down in the grass.

"Two years ago," said Connor, sitting down beside them, "I was paying a visit to my uncle Stephen. He's a scientist and loves experimenting with physics. The day that I was there he was conducting an experiment to try and create a controlled version of a phenomenon called cosmic lightning. His experiment worked too well."

"Is that the energy we saw coming out of you just now?" asked Carole

Connor nodded.

"My uncle had combined a particle accelerator and a particle collider to make his experiments. Problem was that my uncle is kind of a scatterbrain and is easily distracted. After cranking this contraption, of his, up to full power he suddenly ran out of the room to look for something that he misplaced. Right after he left, the whole works caused a massive explosion of this energy right in my face. When I came to I was being set on my feet, in the middle of what was left of the lab, by this energy that now seemed to be a part of me. This energy regenerates me whenever I get hurt, and I haven't even had so much as a common cold since them. I recently discovered that I can control the energy, to an extent, and use it to enhance my physical strength.

"That's incredible," said Stevie

"Amazing," gasped Lisa

"If I hadn't seen what I just saw, I'd have a have a hard time believing this story," said Carole

"Well anyway," said Connor shrugging slightly, "That's the whole story, and I've got to ask you to keep my secret."

"Don't worry we will," said Stevie, "Right guys."

The other girls nodded.

"Great thanks a lot, ladies," said Connor getting to his feet, "now that story time is over I'm going to go on with what I originally came here to do, snoop."

"Good," said Stevie, "Let's get going."

"Hold it," Said Connor, "I'm going to do the snooping, you guys are going to stay here I don't want you getting into trouble."

"Is this an ego thing?" snapped Stevie

"Yeah," said Lisa, "Are you just trying to be macho?"

"No," said Connor, "it's a safety thing." He walked a couple of steps over to where Stevie fell and, stooping down, lifted a small white cord up out of the grass.

"I spotted this before the rocks up ended me," said Connor, "Stevie fell over a trip wire. The rock slide wasn't an accident, it was a booby trap!"

"You mean somebody tried to kill me?!" said Stevie

"Not you personally I don't think," said Connor, "Just whoever tried to snoop around out here."

"But this trap was on Pine Hollow's side of the property line!" said Lisa

"Hey yeah, that's right," said Carole

"Yeah," said Connor, "To me that means that whoever set it didn't want anyone to even get close enough to those shacks to see what was in them! It also means there could be other booby traps between here and there. I can't be killed, but you three can, so stay put."

Connor turned and walked past the no trespassing signs and slowly made his way toward the shacks. He quietly approached the first shack and looked inside. There was nothing but various tools and some surveying equipment. Connor moved on to the next shack. He looked through the side window. Inside this shack was an office. Complete with file cabinets, desk, computer, telephone, and a map of the area pasted up on the wall, and a second window directly across from the one he was looking in.

"Bingo!" he said to himself

"Did you find something," said another voice

Connor jumped, but immediately rolled his eyes.

"Don't you three ever do what you're told?" he growled looking over his shoulder at the three girls who were now beside him peering through the same window.

The girls deliberately ignored the question.

"Well come on," said Stevie, heading for the door, "Let's see what we can find!"

Connor took one last look through the window and suddenly cried.

"Hold it, Stevie," don't touch that door knob! The door is booby trapped!" Stevie stopped on her tracks with her hand in mid air just above the knob. She slowly pulled her hand back and backed away from the door.

"How is it booby trapped?" the other girls asked.

Connor motioned to the window.

"Look up in the rafters straight in front of the door."Connor said stepping back so all three of them could see. The girls looked. There up in the rafters was the shadowy but unmistakable outline of a sawed off shotgun! It was perched in the rafters and aimed directly at the door. its trigger was rigged to a wire connected to the inside of the door.

"See," said Connor, "I told you there could be other booby traps. Stevie, if you had opened that door you would have gotten it right in the chest with anything from rock salt, to worst case scenario, buckshot!"

For once Stevie looked a little scared as the reality of her close call set in.

"Thanks, Connor," she said, "You saved my bacon again!"

"You're welcome," said Connor with a smile.

As quickly as it had wavered Stevie's usual bravado came back.

"Now," said Connor, "since it's still pretty obvious that in spite of your close calls I'm not going to be able to talk you three into letting me go it alone I simply asked that you follow my lead and slow down!"

He aimed that last phrase specifically at Stevie.

"Don't worry," said Stevie, "I've learned my lesson, from now on I look before I leap."

"Guys," said Lisa, "We still have a problem, how are we going to get inside if we can't use the door?"

Suddenly they looked around and realized that, in the few seconds it took Lisa to get that sentence out of her mouth, Connor had disappeared. Just as they started looking around for him the door of the shack opened. Connor emerged with the shotgun in his hand.

"Won't you come in, ladies," he said

"How did you do that?" said Carole, "The window was locked!"

"The other window wasn't." said Connor jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. The girls all piled into the office and began searching the place.

"What exactly are we looking for?" said Stevie

"I don't know," said Connor, "I'm hoping we'll recognize it when we find it."

"That's funny," Said Lisa, who was looking at the map on the wall.

"What is?" said Connor coming to stand beside her.

"This map," said Lisa, "It's a combination of two maps! One is a map of the reservoir and the other is map of Bridgetown, the little burg on the other side of the ridge from here." Connor took another look.

"You're right," said Connor, "But what does this reservoir have to do with Bridgetown? It has its own drinking water supply."

"Speaking of Bridgetown," Stevie said, holding up a paper from the files "Here's something about a proposed luxury hotel and casino to be built over there."

"Well good grief," said Connor, "I was hoping to find answers here and all I've found is more questions. How does a proposed Casino, in a whole other town, fit into all of this?"

"Yeah," said Carole, "This whole mystery is getting bigger by the minute!" suddenly the phone on the desk rang causing the four of them to jump!

They looked at each other and waited with baited breath not sure what to do until the answering machine picked it up. After the voice and beep they were astonished when the voice they heard was Reggie's

"Hello Father," he said, "Just in case you're there but are too busy to answer the phone, I just wanted you to know things are going swimmingly on my end. I've a dinner date with Lisa Atwood tonight. When I'm finished with her she'll be more than happy to get her dad to vote for your property to be the site of the new Water treatment plant. Another Brilliant Coup for the Van Forsythe's!"

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

 _What will Lisa do with this shocking information?_

 _What is Van Forsythes actual plan?_

 _How does a proposed hotel and casino in the next town fit in to it?_

More to come…Please **READ AND REVIEW**


	6. Chapter 6

Truth and Lies 6

Chapter 6

Lisa sank into a nearby chair. For a few moments there was silence in the room. Finally Lisa spoke.

"Reggie was just using me to get to my father! He was going trick me into influencing my father's vote on the council!"

By the time this sentence was complete she had gone from sounding heartbroken to sounding mad. Then she looked up and her eyes met Connor's. Her shoulders sagged a little.

"If you want to say, 'I told you so' go ahead I certainly deserve it," she said quietly, "after all you did warn me about Reggie."

Connor just gave a sad smile and pulled Lisa up into a comfortingly gentle embrace.

"Lisa," he said, looking her in the eye again, "I take no pleasure in this turn of events. It's not something that I wanted to be right about."

"Thanks," said Lisa, giving him one more little squeeze.

"Now you just say the word, Lisa," Connor added, "and I'll find that weasel and break every bone in his body for you."

A smile began to creep on to Lisa's face again,

"Now now," said Lisa, "You're a young man, you've got your whole life ahead of you, and besides if anyone's going to put that weasel in a body cast it's going to be me!"

Connor grinned.

"Feeling better?" he asked

"Much," Lisa Replied

"Great," said Connor as he recorded the answering machine message on his phone, "Now we still have work to do, we have to figure out what a Casino in bridge town has to do with the Willow creek reservoir."

The four friends resumed their search of the secret office. Carole was over at the desk, Stevie and Lisa were going through the file cabinet looking for any useful information. Connor had pulled a mini camera out of his pocket and was photographing every inch of the strange composite map. Suddenly Carole gave a Cry.

"Look at this," she said, she held up a large checkbook that she had found under a pile of papers on the desk. "There was a check written on this recently."

Stevie placed her fingers on the top check of the open checkbook.

"You're right," said Stevie, "I can feel the impressions made by the pen as it wrote the check that was on top of it, but I can't tell what it says."

"I have an idea about that," said Connor, he grabbed one of the soft lead pencils out of a mug of writing tools on the desk and began to softly rub the lead on the surface of the check. Slowly writing began to appear. It read:

Pay to the order of Carter Voss, Twenty five thousand dollars! And it was signed Vernon Van Forsythe!

"Holy smoke," said Lisa, "Forsythe Bribed the deputy mayor!"

"it sure looks that way," said Connor, "and that explains why he was so eager to get every Council member at the party on his side."

The others nodded. Connor photographed the pencil lead copy of the check that they had made. Just as he was straightening up from doing this the silence was shattered by a loud voice outside the front of the building.

"Hank, there's someone in the office!"

"Snooping party's over ladies," said Connor, jamming a chair up under the doorknob, "Out the back window quick!" the quartet of amateur sleuths slid and crawled out the window in record time. As fast as they could they dove behind the other building.

Hank and the other man busted the door down but finding no one inside they came back out. This time Hank had produced a pistol and the other guy had the sawed off shotgun.

"I only caught a glimpse of one them escaping out the back window, Larson," said Hank, "He looked like a teenager!"

"Well teenagers or not they were smart enough to get past the booby traps we set up." Hank shot back scanning the tree line.

The four teenagers were crouched behind the end of the second building peeking carefully around the corner.

"What do we do," said Lisa, "they've got guns, the minute we make a break for our horses they could start shooting!"

"I tell you what you're going to do," said Connor, slipping his camera into Lisa's pocket, "I'm going to work my way around behind them and the minute you see me jump those guys you head for your horses and you ride. You head straight for Pine hollow and don't even thing about coming back to help no matter what you might hear."

Stevie started protest, but Connor point a finger at her.

"I mean it, Stevie," he said, "Now be ready to move!" he slipped away from the group and worked his way silently around the opposite end of the office building. The girls were watching as Connor came out from behind the building, ran silently up behind the two men, and knocked them both to the ground. The two surprised bruisers hit the ground hard and their guns went flying.

"Run!" he yelled. And the girls took off across the open path for their horses. One of me rolled over and tried to grab his gun, but Connor stepped on his hand and taking the gun away from him, removed the clip and emptied the chamber. Connor then clubbed the guy in the head with the empty gun knocking him cold.

Then he heard the chilling pump of a shotgun round being chambered behind him. He turned to face the grinning sleaze ball. Now I've you smart aleck kid. To his surprise Connor just smirked.

"That's the shotgun that was part of that booby trap I disarmed in the office," said Connor he reached to his pocket, pulled out handful of twelve gage shells and dropped them on the ground, "Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to leave the shells in that thing?!"

The hired thug was enraged at his bluff being called. He tried to use the shotgun as a club. But Connor caught his arms mid-swing and twisted the weapon out of his hands. Connors eye flashed with the white energy and he tore the barrel of the shot gun clean off the stock. Then he grabbed the stunned bruiser, lifted him off the ground, and put him through the wall of the supply shed 20 feet away!

As the man slumped to the ground unconscious, Connor spotted something near him inside the shed. It was large high powered pump, and he hadn't seen it earlier because of the dim light.

"They're ready to start building as soon as the decision comes from the city council," he said to himself as he turned to go. Then he stopped short, "Wait a minute, what would they need that big a pump for when were downhill from reservoir here, gravity would fill up the treatment tanks in no time flat!"

Then a look of realization flashed on to his face.

"That's it!" he cried, "I know what's going on here." Racing for his Horse he jumped into the saddle and galloped off toward Pine Hollow.

Within in a few minutes he caught up with the girls, who were more than a little relieved to see that he got away.

"Guys I know what Van Forsythe is up to," said Connor, "At least I'm pretty sure I do. I'll need to call in a favor with a cousin of mine who works in the courthouse land office over in Bridgetown to know without a doubt."

"What," they all said in unison

"Come on," he said, "We've got to get back to Pine Hollow and arranged to get to that Council meeting. I'll fill you in on the way!"

The Council meeting was packed that night. Everyone in town was interested the new treatment plant because everybody needs a steady water supply. Connor and the Saddle club, who had been brought to the meeting by Mrs. Reg, stood over to one side talking with Connor's mother and Lisa's father.

"Son," said Connor's mother, "Are you positive about what you just told."

"Yes, Mom," said Connor, "Absolutely." She motioned for Connor and his friends to follow her. She led them up on the platform. After the chairman, Mayor Howard Tillman, had called the meeting to order, Mrs. Maddux spoke up.

"Mr. Chairman," she said, "My son and his friends would like to address this council meeting."

"With all due respect, Councilwoman Maddux, don't have time to listen to a bunch of teenagers!"

"Howard Tillman!" a voice thundered, everybody turned and looked as the owner of the voice, one Elizabeth Regnery marched down the aisle, up onto the platform, and grabbed the Mayor by his collar.

"Now you listen to me, Howard," she snapped, glaring at him without a trace of fear, "These kids have some information that will affect this whole valley if it's ignored, "Now you sit down, shut up, and listen to what these kids have to say, before I remember what royal pain you were to babysit!"

The Mayor gulped loudly. And looked like a whipped puppy

"You may have the floor, Mr. Maddux," he said sitting down, cheers and applause erupted as Mrs. Reg triumphantly marched back to her seat.

Connor and the Saddle Club stepped up to the microphone. Connor spoke first.

"Folks," he said, "It May interest you to know that Vernon Van Forsythe owns that land that he wants the city to build the new water treatment plant on!"

Mayor Tillman turned to Voss,

"Carter, did you know about this?"

"Of Course he did," said Carole, "He's on Voss's payroll!"

"That's a lie!" snapped Voss

"We've got a photograph showing a pencil rub of a check from Van Forsythe to you in the amount of 25,000 dollars!" snapped Stevie, "accepting bribes to promote one building site over another isn't exactly conduct becoming an elected official, Mr. Voss."

"And Van Forsythe didn't stop there," Lisa spoke up, "he also had his son try to use me to influence my father's vote on the council in his favor and we have recorded answering machine message to prove that too."

Here Connor took up the story,

"Believe it or not Folks," said Connor, "This story doesn't end here, it actually ends in Bridgetown. You see Carter Voss also owns the company that is trying to build that new hotel over there. The problem is the site that Bridgetown council stuck him with doesn't have enough water on it, so knowing that he owned property by the reservoir, and knowing that we needed a bigger water treatment plant he set up this scheme to give himself control of our water supply so he steal all he wanted and pump it over the hill to his Hotel!"

When Connor finished the room exploded into a near uproar. The slightly embarrassed mayor decided to call an emergency closed session. As Connor and the girls were walking out, they passed near where the Van Forsythes were sitting. Mrs. Van Forsythe was looking mortified but Reggie and his father looked as defiant as ever. About the time they reached them, the Van Forsythes and Reggie were just standing up to leave. Everyone was surprised when the normally sweet Lisa suddenly let fly with a haymaker that connected with Reggie's nose and sent him flying over the back of the seat!

Lisa shaking her hand out as she continued on her way looked up to see her friends looking at her. Their shock was quickly being replace by subtle smiles.

"Lisa," said Connor, a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth, "We didn't see that."

A few days later found Connor and the Saddle Club riding down the trail toward the stable after a hack.

"Well things have happened fast," said Connor, "Deputy Mayor Voss had to resign to avoid prosecution. Those too goons up at the secret office were picked up and they sang like canaries. The Van Forsythes, who are now under investigation for their illegal and unethical business schemes, have moved out of the valley which means Reggie is no longer at Cross County. That gets Phil off the hook."

The group arrived back at Pine Hollow, and found the Cross County Pony Club director Elliot Richards standing there with Max.

The group dismounted and walked over to where the men were.

"Hello, Connor," said Richards, as they approached, "I'm here because I wanted to tell you that Landers, who accepted a bribe from Van Forsythe to kick you out after your fight with Reggie, has been fired. I also want to invite you to come back to Cross County. You're one of the best riders we ever had and we want you back!"

Connor didn't say yes or no he just stepped away from the group and as they watched he climbed up on the high fence around the riding ring.

He sat there on the fence for what seemed like an eternity, looking out over everything that was going on. There were Students in the ring for the dressage lesson. There were the horses running in the fields and there were the stable hands going this way and that as they did their work. Finally looked up at the Saddle club and slow a smile came to his face. He hopped down of the fence and walked back over to Mr. Richards.

"Sorry Mr. Richards," he said, "I'm staying put."

"Why," said Mr. Richards.

Connor smiled and started to walked over to his friends. He stopped halfway, looked over his shoulder and answered Richards' question,

"There's just something about this place."

THE END

Thanks for the Reviews.


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